1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to metal oxide and more particularly to a high surface area, electrically conductive nanocarbon-supported metal oxide.
2. State of Technology
Porous metal oxides can be prepared by a number of techniques ranging from sol-gel synthesis to various templating/support methods. These porous metal oxides have shown enhanced catalytic activity, compared to bulk material, but are still limited by surface areas less than 1000 m2/g. This is even the case when using high surface area templates such as SBA-15 or MCM-41. Surface areas for the templated metal oxides can be less than 200 m2/g. The use of supports, such as carbon nanotubes, also yields surface areas less than 300 m2/g. Another issue presented by many porous metal oxides is that their pore structure collapsing at elevated temperatures. For example in titania aerogels, this lack of pore stability results in order of magnitude decreases in surface area under heating. The presence of silica has been shown to provide some stabilization of pores at high temperatures in titania-silica composites. However, the surface area is still significantly decreased under heating.
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess a number of intrinsic properties that have made them promising materials in the design of composite materials. CNTs can have electrical conductivities' as high as 106 Sm−1, thermal conductivities as high as 3000 Wm−1K−1, elastic moduli3 on the order of 1 TPa, and are extremely flexible. Unfortunately, the realization of these properties in macroscopic forms such as foams and composites has been limited. Foams, though conductive, tend to be mechanically weak due to their dependence on van der Waals forces for mechanical integrity.
The treatise, Introduction to Nanotechnology, by Charles P. Poole, Jr., and Frank J. Owens. John Wiley &. Sons, 2003, states: “Nanotechnology is based on the recognition that particles less than the size of 100 nanometers (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter) impart to nanostructures built from them new properties and behavior. This happens because particles which are smaller than the characteristic lengths associated with particular phenomena often display new chemistry and physics, leading to new behavior which depends on the size. So, for example, the electronic structure, conductivity, reactivity, melting temperature, and mechanical properties have all been observed to change when particles become smaller than a critical size.”